CAPE NATIVE PUTS BEAT IN AUDIO ADRENALINE

Most parents cringe at the thought of their son joining a rock 'n' roll band. But when Cape Girardeau native Ben Cissell told his parents he was going to be the drummer for the Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline, they couldn't have been prouder.

"If you didn't know what the lyrics to their songs were you'd think they were a rock band," Sherry Cissell, Ben's mother, said. "When he came home one time he said they were just really good Christian guys and their hearts were in the right place.

"He said, I think this is what I'm supposed to do."

Sherry and Mike Cissell raised Ben in Cape Girardeau before relocating to Chesterfield. Ben now lives in Nashville, Tenn., when he's not touring with Audio Adrenaline.

Friday his band will open for Carolyn Arends and Steven Curtis Chapman at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill. (See related story).

Sherry Cissell will be in the audience as Ben and his band take the stage. She's gone farther than Carbondale to see her son play.

"I drove out to Lincoln, Neb., to see their show," she said.

Ben has attracted quite a following in the 14 months he's been with Audio Adrenaline, his mother said. "I was talking to some of the gals in his fan club and they had flown from California to Nebraska to see him; and they have seen 39 shows."

Sherry said Ben's notoriety has followed him even to Cape Girardeau. Recently the family had a reunion in Cape Girardeau to celebrate Sherry's parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Ben and Sherry went to the West Park Mall to shop. When word got out that Ben was at the mall, three young men searched the shops until they found him.

"They told him they'd been in with the wrong group in high school but they've become Christians now and they're big fans of his," Sherry said.

Ben told her as they were leaving the mall that those were the type of people he likes to talk to because it gives him the opportunity to see if the band's music is reaching anyone.

Ben has been beating on drums since he was in the fourth grade. In high school he began playing with bands that would practice in the family basement. Sherry said the noise caused knickknacks to fall from their shelves, kept siblings from studying and raised the neighbor's eyebrows.

"One neighbor said we had more wild parties than anyone she'd ever seen."

The biggest surprise to visitors was how well Sherry and Mike were able to ignore the music.

Sherry's aunt, Mary Bolen of Cape Girardeau, said there was a time when Mike became stuck while working in the attic. Ben was so intent on his drumming that Mike couldn't get his attention to bring help.

Bolen said Ben is proud of his Cape Girardeau heritage and often wears Capahas baseball T-shirts on stage.

"It makes you feel real proud," she said. "We're happy to see him so happy because he's achieved what he's wanted to do at a very young age."